More and more people are working from home - and chances are they're paid more per hour than you

More and more people are working from home, and on average they earn more per hour than the rest of the workforce, according to official statistics out today.

Around 4.2m people work from home in the UK, making up 13.9 per cent of all people in work during the first three months of the year, the Office for National Statistics said.

This rate is the highest since comparable records began in 1998 as the below graph of UK homeworkers by year shows.

Home workers typically earn a higher hourly wage than the rest of the population, £13.23 compared to £10.50, due to their concentration in more highly-skilled roles, the ONS said. Just under two-thirds are self-employed and 36 per cent work less than 30 hours a week.

Farmers are the most prevalent home workers, totalling 134,000, followed by 127,000 construction workers and 123,000 sales and business development managers. However, jobs considered to be management, professional, associated professional and skilled trades are overrepresented, making up three-quarters of all home workers compared to around half of non-home roles.

For women, the top roles also include childminding and care-working, the ONS said. More than a third of home workers are aged 65 or over – compared to just one in 20 of people aged 16 to 24 who use their home to work.

The south west of England has the most home workers, with 17.1 per cent of all people in work doing so from their home while Scotland, with 10.7 per cent, has the fewest. Home-working has risen in every region in Great Britain since the onset of the recession.